Self-securing curtain hanger



Feb. 20, 1951 l. J. GERSHEN SELF-SECURING CURTAIN HANGER Filed Dec.-2'7. 1948 Qwmwubov "Irvin J Gershe/n aqua/b Patented Feb. 20, 1951UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SELF-SECURING CURTAIN HANGER Irvin J.Gershen, Newark, N. J.

Application December 27, 1948, Serial No. 67,461

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to improvements in curtain hangers, and inparticular to curtain hangers of the style which may be slidablysupported in multiple on a suspended rod for hanging curtains, draperiesor the like.

Materials for curtains or draperies may consist of woven fabricsproduced from natural or synthetic fibres although a recent trendindicates more extensive use of sheeted material in the form of plasticsor paper. An elementary rod supported curtain hanger includes a ring ofsuitable proportions and design which may be disposed over a horizontalcurtain rod. Provision is made to attach a curtain thereto, as bystitching with thread, in which case a small eyelet or hole may belocated in a depending portion through which thread may be looped. Thisfamiliar style curtain hanger is generally satisfactory and may beconstructed of metal or wood or plastic or of other stable andsubstantially rigid material.

A disadvantage of conventional curtain hangers of the typeaforementioned results from the time consuming operation of stitching acurtain to the series of hangers to be used. This disadvantage is moreapparent when it becomes necessary to wash or otherwise clean thecurtains necessitating removal of the hangers. Accordingly, it is theprincipal objectnf my invention to provide a curtain hanger which may bequickly and easily attached to and detached from curtain material.

A further and important object of my invention is to provide a curtainhanger which may be fabricated of thermoplastic or thermosettingplastic, using known plastic molding techniques requiring a minimum ofhand finishing operations to produce the final article.

In carrying out the objectives mentioned above, the hanger of myinvention includes, in part, usual ring construction to slide the hangerover a curtain rod. In place of the stitching eyelet or other stitchingfacility, I provide a narrow, serpentine, barbed guide, the points ofthe barbs being directed upwardly and at an angle with the guide, towhich the curtain material becomes secured upon slight downward movementof the curtain in the direction of gravity pull of the curtain inhanging position. Removal of the material from the barbs is accomplishedby reversing the procedures of attachment, 1. e., lifting the curtainslightly to detach the material from the barbs and subsequently slidingit outwardly from the serpentine guide.

The invention will be more completely understood by reference to thefollowing detailed specification, taken in conjunction with the drawing.

In the drawing: Figure 1 is a plan View of the curtain hanger of myinvention illustrating details of construction,

Figure 2 is a vertical cross-section view taken on line 22 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the lower portion of thehanger of Figure 1, with curtain fabric drawn therein,

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 with the curtain material securedto the hanger, and

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a modified lower portion forthe hanger.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, my improved ourtain hanger consistsprincipally of a ring portion it of suitable shape adapted to slide overa curtain rod or other device, and a depending curtain supportingportion I I. The lower side of the ring It is split and the curtainsupport II is formed from the pair of opposed legs or protuberances I laand I lb, each of which is integral with a side of the ring; Aspreviously mentioned, the hanger is preferably fabricated of a stableand somewhat rigid material as a thermoplastic and the irregular contourof the inwardly disposed edges of legs I la and I lb may be formed bymolding, casting or stamping to avoid the necessity for otherwisecutting the desired shapes. It is, of course, possible to use materialsother than plastics and, at the same time, to derive the benefits ofcasting, molding, or stamping, however, the advantages in matters ofappearance, weight and cost of plastics as compared with metals makeplastic materials ideally suitable to the application.

The lower ends of legs Na and I ll) are shaped to form an inverted V I 2which terminates in the lower extremity of a serpentine or reverselycurved guide I 3 which, in turn, extends upwardly between legs Ila andIII) to the ring opening. At each reversal of the curve of guide I3 is acurved barb I 4 created by shaping the material at a sharp downwardangle with respect to the guide. It will be noted by reference to Figure2 that barbs I4 are tusk-like and smooth and, in this respect, arepatterned somewhat along the lines of the point of a knitting needle,but conforming to the curvature of the guide. In back of each barb is aclearance space I5 which terminates upwardly in the guide or channel I3.Thus, in the modification of Figure 1 there are two barbs I4 on theright hand leg II b and one barb I4 on the left hand leg Ila, the latterbeing situated approximately midway between the barbs on the right handleg, the three barbs each overlapping the vertical centerline. Due tothe shape of the guide and the direction of the barbs, there is thetendency for material being drawn upwardly into the ring to avoidsnagging in the barbs yet, when moved downwardly, it becomes attachedthereto. The finish and width of guide [3 is such that the usual weightof curtain material may be inserted therein without meeting anyappreciable resistance and without deleteriously spreading the legs llaand Nb apart to an extent which would be sufiicient to distort orfracture the material of the ring.

Figures 3 and 4 diagrammatically illustrate the application of materialto the hanger, the V I2 serving to direct material 20 to the guide 13,whereafter it may be readily drawn upwardly to the position shown inFigure 3. Upon slight downward pull, and due to the tendency of thematerial to straighten, it will catch in the barbs and secure itselfthereto as indicated in Figure 4, the warp threads separating in thecase of a woven material and the cross threads or wool" restrained inthe trough of the clearance cut l3. If the curtain is of sheetedmaterial the barbs will puncture the material and allow it to be drawndown in like manner into supporting contact with the trough of clearancecut I5. To remove the material, it is only necessary to move it againupwardly to detach it from the barbs and to then push it out of theguide while directing it by hand away from the barbs.

It is contemplated that slight flexibility of the material of thehanger, such as i obtained with thermoplastics, will be advantageous forinserting and removing heavy or coarse material, or material with heavyhems, from the hanger. If, for example, the material is heavier than theguide width, the hanger legs will separate to accommodate the oversizeduring the operation of drawing it into the hanger and, likewise, theguide may be opened slightly to permit easy withdrawal, just as long asbending is not resorted to which will deform or destroy the hanger. Itis further contemplated that other arrangement of the barbs may be used,depending upon the particular application at hand. It is an importantfeature of the invention that at least one curved section or itsequivalent exist in the guide to divert material in a circuitous pathand that at least one barb may be situated adjacent the path, projectinginwardly of the guide along the inside guidin surface, to snag thematerial when it is pulled or otherwise moved in an outwardly direction.

The construction of the hanger of my invention may also be modified asshown in Figure 5, wherein the ring portion I is continuous rather thansplit. As with the hanger previously described, a pair of opposed,depending legs '11 and '12 form the curtain securing portion betweenwhich is a modified form of serpentine guide I3. Two overlapping barbsl4 conforming with the guide permit access of ma terial therein andserve to snag the material when it is pulled slightly in the directionof withdrawal. By bridging the guide to make the ring portioncontinuous, additional strength is supplied to resist any tendency todeformation or breakage of the ring.

References herein to the inside guiding surface are intended todesignate the surface-for example, having the shorter radius of twocurved surfaces which form the guide. In the case of a reversely curvedguide, the inside guiding sur faces may be situated on both legs orother opposed elements used to form the guide, depending upon thecontour employed. It is to be understood that the fabric securinginstrumentality which I have provided may be useful in conjunction withother than curtain rings, that the examples shown and described arepreferred physical embodiments of the principles of the invention, andthat various obvious changes may be made by those skilled in the artwhich lie within the scope of the sub-joined claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In a curtain hanger, in combination, a supporting ring portion adaptedfor sliding attachment to a curtain rod or the like and a dependingcurtain securing portion for fastening a curtain thereto, said securingportion consisting of a pair of spaced, parallel, rigid leg members eachhaving a plurality of longitudinally spaced notches and barns on theside thereof adjacent the other member, each barb of each member matingwith a notch of the other member and extending upwardly and inwardlyacross the longitudinal center line of the hanger and forming areversely curved guide in which material being drawn directly outwardlytherefrom will be snagged by said barbs.

IRVIN J. GERSHEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 443,514 Gilbert Dec. 30, 1890635,295 Brown Oct. 24, 1899 1,160,573 Byron Nov. 16, 1915 1,445,037Poelle Feb. 13, 1923

